King of the Lab
by gabrielledeschanel
Summary: There will be dancing. There will be romancing. There will be science. There will be baring of souls. There will be love. Oh yes, there will be.
1. Chapter 1

Booth sauntered into the Medico-Legal lab of the Jeffersonian Institute looking, as usual, like a movie star. His hair was gelled perfectly, his suit nicely pressed, his coat collar popped and his hands in his pockets, showing off his easily recognizable cocky belt buckle. He swished his magic little card and swaggered onto the lab platform and up to Bones. "Good morning Bones" he grinned at her.

"Good morning Booth. What has you in such a good mood? I thought you hated Mondays."

"Well Bones, generally I do. But I've got a good feeling about this week and" he said, hopping up onto an exam table, "we have a case."

Hodgins strolled onto the platform and said "You may not want to sit there. We just cleared a decomposing body off of that particular exam table..."

Booth slid down quickly, wiping off his suit, but grin still intact."Can't ruin it for me because this is going to be a good week."

Bones looked up at her oddly optimistic partner. "It's Monday morning and we have to go examine a putrefying body at a crime scene to determine who gruesomely murdered him or her. Why are you so happy?"

"Stop trying to bring my good mood down Bones! Just go with me on this one. Now come on, chop chop, we've got a crime scene to get to. And it's at the beach, so this day just keeps getting better" Booth explained as he lead Bones to her office to get her things.

It took a good while to examine the body - male, late 30s, early 40s, caucasian, cause of death appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head - and then get it and all of the evidence loaded up and sent back to the Jeffersonian. As they headed back to the Jeffersonian to drop Brennan off, Booth asked "So Bones, you got any plans for tonight?"

"Nothing special, just working on this case. Why? Shouldn't you also be working on it?" She asked, somewhat suspicious.

"Well, there's this new swanky new restaurant I heard about across town and I wanted to go check it out. Would you like to come?" He asked.

"Booth, I really think we should be focusing on this case. We don't even have an ID on the victim yet. It's hardly time for a celebratory dinner."

"Awww come on Bones, live a little! Do we have to solve a case in order for us to go to dinner? Don't you ever just want to go out and have some fun? Work off the stress of chasing murderers and examining dead people all day?"

"I don't know Booth..."

"Bones you need to learn to have a little fun sometimes" Booth said exasperatedly.

"This is hardly a matter of my 'learning to have a little fun' Booth. I have lots of fun. Examining this body is going to be fun. Reading books and listening to music and writing my books are all fun. And none of these activities force me to neglect my job in order to participate in them" Bones stated, glancing out her window.

"Gosh Bones, listening to you talk about these 'fun' things you do is already a drag. Come on, let me show you what a fun, spontaneous night is really all about." Bones rolled her eyes. Booth tried again, "Look, I'll make you a deal. If we get an ID on this guy by the end of the day, will you come out to this restaurant with me?"

Brennan thought for a moment. "Alright, that's a reasonable compromise. I won't feel as though I'm shirking my responsibilities too much if I have already IDed the body. Amd we can always discuss the case more thoroughly over dinner. That sounds like it would be a reasonably _fun_ evening" Bones agreed with a slight smile, looking over at Booth to see if he was satisfied, but it was his turn to roll his eyes.

"See, now we're talking. Just you and me, Bones and Booth, a night on the town..."

"Well, if we identify the body in time," Bones reminded him.

"Yeah sure, you guys are the best of the best, you'll do it. That's why you're squints. Just be thinking about what you're going to wear tonight because I know I am going to be looking sharp" Booth asserted, smirking to himself. Breannan just rolled her eyes and looked through her notes.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Booth was in his office glancing through his notes when his phone went off. "Booth" he said, knowing it would be Bones.

"We have confirmed that cause of death was the gunshot wound to the head and we recovered a bullet. Also, the tox screen reports that he was exceptionally intoxicated at the time of death"

"That's great Bones, maybe we can get a match for the weapon and get ourselves a little closer to whoever took advantage of the poor drunk and shot him when he couldn't defend himself."

"We don't know that he couldn't defend himself Booth," Brennan interjected.

"Yeah whatever Bones. Anyway, so...?"

"So what?"

"So, did you identify the guy?" Booth said, knowing she was avoiding the answer.

"Well, as a matter of fact we did" Brennan said, rolling her eyes. She could hear him silently grinning on the other end. "We just got confirmation through dentals a few minutes ago. His name was Christopher Quill. He was reported missing yesterday by his mother, Jacqueline Quill. She said she stopped by his place to check on him and noticed he was gone and grew worried when she couldn't get ahold of him."

"Attagirl Bones! See, I knew you guys would come through. Send the report over and I'll see what I can get started. And I'll pick you up at your apartment at 7:30"

* * *

Booth showed up right at 7:30. Brennan opened the door and Booth hid his awe behind a startled chuckle. "Well hello there _Roxie," _Booth grinned. "I can't believe you kept that dress!" Because Brennan was wearing none other than the sexy little black dress that Booth had picked out for her when they went undercover in Las Vegas. He could barely handle the sight again. She was irresistable.

"Well, you said we were going to have fun tonight and I had fun in this dress last time. Maybe it's my lucky amulet"

"_Charm_ Bones. It's lucky _charm_. Now come on, I heard this place fills up fast" Booth said, heading towards the elevator. Then, as if he remembered something, he turned and said "You look great Bones. I did always like that dress."

Brennan smiled at the flattery. "You look very nice tonight also Booth."

"Yeah, I know" he said, brushing a hand over his hair. Brennan rolled her eyes and they both laughed as they stepped onto the elevator. It was going to be an interesting night.


	2. Chapter 2

**So I'm really doing my best to keep Booth and Brennan in character. Tell me if you think they're not please! This chapter has been surprisingly frustrating to write. I have the beginning and the end already written (as the end was what inspired me to write this in the first place) and I know a basic plotline, but it's definitely harder to make it across that finish line than I anticipated. Just bear with me please! (Reviews are appreciated)**

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Brennan was glad that Booth made her come out tonight. The restaurant was very entertaining and she was genuinely having fun. The food was delicious and they laughed and joked and bickered with new energy. The dinner was going so well, but there was something different. Something Brennan couldn't quite place. It felt almost like a, like a date. Yet, there was no logical reason to think that. She and Booth had dinner together often. Granted, it was generally at the diner or the Founding Fathers, but just because the venue changed didn't make it a date. "Wishful thinking" a little voice in her head whispered. That was ridiculous. Why would she wish that this was a date? And, unbidden, the answer rose in her mind. "Because he's the one" the voice insistently whispered again. She scoffed at herself. What one? The concept that there was only one 'soul mate' for every person in the world was preposterous and illogical. But still, she knew. He was the one. The only one who cared enough. All her life, she had built her walls. She hid behind science and reason, trying to protect herself from emotional pain, hiding her naïveté behind careful research and intelligence. Everyone she came in contact with, began to get to know well encountered these walls. Sometimes, they would make attempts to get past them. But always, always they failed and always, always they gave up. They accepted that Brennan really was just made of logic. They decided that there really wasn't anything further to get to know from her. They accepted her facade, which, in turn, only strengthened it. Except for one person, one man who was ever the exception. Special Agent Seeley Joseph Booth, the man sitting across the table from her with a charming white smile smoothed across his face, chuckling at something she had just said. The man who didn't give up. He recognized the walls for what they were and right from the outset, he started chiseling away at them. She tried her best to keep those defenses up, but he was indefinitely persistent. He saw right through them, to the real Temperance Brennan, no 'Dr.' in sight. And apparently, he appreciated what he saw. That was what brought them close, closer than she'd ever been to a person since her parents. Closer than any relationship had brought her. Closer even than Angela, though their relationships were completely different. He saw her for who she was because through all that intelligence, beneath all her layers of rationality and logic, was just a brilliant fool, swinging, swaying, tangled up in a big world full of things she was too afraid to try to understand.

"See Bones, aren't you glad you came out tonight?" Booth said, startling her out of her internal conflict.

"I have to admit that yes, I am enjoying myself very much. I think I needed this. Thank you Booth" Brennan smiled across the table.

He smiled back. "Anytime Bones, anytime. But we aren't done having fun yet tonight!" He said, getting up.

"Booth, where are you going?" Brennan asked, confused if she should be joining him or not.

He came around to her side of the table and offered her his arm saying "Bones, may I have this dance?"

Surprised, Brennan still managed to accept.

As they entered the dance floor, the band started to play an upbeat tune that she had never heard. Booth grabbed her hands and they started to dance. Brennan was once again surprised with how much fun she was having, although she was pretty sure it had more to do with the company she was in, rather than the activity in which she was engaging. They moved well together and kept a light banter going throughout the dance. Still, in the back of her mind, the little voice was reminding her that they'd never danced after dinner before. This was definitely different, and definitely date-like... She really needed to stop over-analyzing everything. _He didn't love her, she would know if he loved her._

"Say Bones, you're pretty good at this!" Booth exclaimed.

"Well thank you, I took dance lessons as a little girl and my teacher said I had a natural grace and talent for dance."

"Well she was right!" Booth smiled as he twirled her. They danced a few more numbers and were having an amusing time when the first slow song came on. It was Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper. Booth pulled her in close as he laughed about how this song took him back to his teen years. They glided around the dance floor fluidly, sliding past an older couple who leaned over and said "You two make the cutest couple." Brennan was about to tell them the sad truth that they weren't a couple when Booth cut in.

"Oh thank you so much" he said with a smile as he spun Brennan away from the couple.

Brennan's stomach went into knots. Why hadn't he denied that they were a couple as usual? "_Because it's a date!_" that little voice of hope screamed before she could stifle it. It was not a date. It was just easier to say thank you and move on than to explain that they weren't, in fact, a couple at all. Just partners. And good friends. Best friends. More...?

Booth leaned in and whispered "I find it's easier to accept the compliment and move on than correct everyone who say we're a couple."

See? Brennan told herself. It's not a date, he was just being polite to the elderly people. The last few bars of the song resounded across the dance floor, but all of a sudden, Brennan made eye contact with Booth. There was definitely something different in his eyes. Her breath caught in her throat, but she managed to get out a strangled "What?" and half-hearted chuckle and he looked away.

"Nothing. You just look really nice tonight Bones" he smiled at her.

Brennan blushed. "Thanks Booth. I think you're quite dashing yourself." Were they..._flirting_?

"So Bones, you ready to go?" Booth said as they headed off the dance floor, though his hands curiously lingered at her waist.

They made there way back to Brennan's building and Booth walked her to her door, as per usual. "I had a nice time tonight Booth. It was nice to get out and do something" she smiled as she was unlocking her door.

"Yeah Bones, it was a fun night. I had a great time too" he said, but there was something wrong with his voice.

Brennan turned to look at him leaning casually against her doorframe and that look in his eyes was back. That look that made her blush and made her stomach feel as though it was twisting. She had to get away from him before she did something she would regret later. "I'm glad. But I really should get to bed. We have to work on that case bright and early tomorrow. See you in the morning Booth" she said, shutting the door on him.

She heard a soft "Night Bones" before she managed to shut the door all of the way. God, it was like he _knew_ how she felt and was hellbent on teasing her til she couldn't stand it anymore. She needed a good night's sleep and lots and lots of coffee if she was going to be working with him closely again tomorrow. Stupid charming FBI agent.


End file.
